What is Expertise?

Information

When you want to find information, it’s all there at your fingertips. Never before have we had access to so much free information. Today, with just one click on Google your questions can be answered and pages of relevant information will be available to you.

But are we any better off because all this information is available? Maybe not.

Access to information is important and usually free but it is of little use if we cannot understand it. That’s where the next bit comes in – knowledge.

Knowledge

Knowledge is understanding information. Knowledge is taking the information contained in multiple sources and putting it together so it makes some kind of sense.

Students learn. They develop a knowledge of their subject and through their studies they begin to understand the how and why of their topic. Essentially, they take information and turn it into knowledge: newly learnt information.

But knowing about something and actually being able to do something are two different things.

And that’s where expertise comes in.

Expertise

Expertise is being able to take the knowledge and learnings from past experiences and being able to apply it to a particular situation. It’s something that is earnt through years of hard work, thousands of hours of putting knowledge into action, your expertise developing with each and every hour. You can have all the knowledge and information, but actually using it and learning from it is how you gain expertise.

Becoming an expert

There’s no easy way to develop expertise, it’s simply down to the following:

- Learn from your mistakes – we all make them, but we don’t all take time to learn from them.

- Reflect on your successes – make sure you understand what made something a success.

- Surround yourself with other experts – learn from them and observe how they approach challenges.

- Use your knowledge and apply new information, then check and learn from the results.

In professional services, if all you sell is information, you’ll quickly become redundant. Because if it’s not already available for free, it soon will be. Take mutual fund ratings, for example. Access was, for many years, only for financial planners. To secure a five star fund you would have needed to have consulted with a financial planner, but now that information is available to everyone, for free.

If all you sell is knowledge, it’s not enough. Many potential clients think they’re able to do it themselves because they can access the information and convert it into knowledge. But knowledge without experience is dangerous. You wouldn’t try to fly a plane or drive a train with only basic information from a manual. You’d only do it after you had completed hands-on experience, in the air or on the track. Nor would you invest in a fund or business opportunity without fully understanding the risk, forecast and potential return.

Everyone values expertise because it’s important. It takes knowledge, mixed with information and years of hard work, to make something special: tangible, enviable, valuable experience.

Steve Jobs

Co-founder of Apple

“Everyone has the sense that right now is one of those moments when we are influencing the future.”

Bill Gates

Co-founder of Microsoft

“How you gather, manage and use information will determine whether you win or lose.”

Simon Mainwaring

CEO We First Inc.

“Not since the digital revolution in the early ‘90s has technology placed such a comprehensive burden on business, employees, and individuals to reinvent their business plans, services and products, and themselves to keep pace with the changing marketplace.”

What is ITCL Expertise?

At ITCL, our expertise comes from more than 20 years developing experience working across a number of industries, identifying problems and challenges, finding effective solutions, and investing in resources to enable us to stay at the forefront of new thinking and innovation. Throughout our years of work in the industry, we have collaborated with 75% of the top organizations in Europe and the Arab world helping them to achieve growth objectives.

Our expertise is in every sense international thanks to our team of highly skilled consultants, industry experts, subject matter experts, and strategists from around the world. We focus on the governmental, semi-governmental, utility, and telecommunications industries and we’re always looking to the future to actively invest in research and development so we can continue to offer cutting-edge, industry leading services.